Cheap Dover-Calais Ferry Deals discussion

dacouch

Looks like you have a good deal there, I hope it goes well for you

vikingaero

If you want cheap fares go at a ridiculous time at night - 1am to 5am. Dover Esplanade has loads of campervans all parked up waiting for their cheap crossings in the wee hours.

harryhound

harryhound wrote: »

Hi dacouch,
Yes I organised the P&O deal about a month ago (and fell for the 2 GBP credit card surcharge:mad:)
I should qualify for the 90 GBP kick back at Majestic (formerly Beer & Wine) deal:j It is for a wedding:D:eek:
However I've noticed that the web site has changed:
http://www.majesticinfrance.co.uk/
I also notice that the usually cheap prices at this time of year have been extended as a sort of "emergency" provision. One of the first questions the site asks is enter your promotion code.
Any one selling wine priced in GBP is facing a serious exchange rate problem from Euro land and some other wine producing areas. Methinks there are some "administrative" changes going on behind the scenes, one of which seems to be cutting the UK administration out of the loop for day to day trivialities.

With the banks staggering about on a daily basis, you are never quite sure what is going on these days.

Hi MSE's,

Here is my report back on the booze trip:

Amazing how time flies - I've been to France on flying visits but the last time I did a serious booze cruise was about 30 months ago. How times change.

Cut it a bit fine only allowing 90 minutes for the nearly 80 miles to get to Dover, not clever on a week day with the Dartford Tunnel at about 07:00 Hrs.
However it did make me realise that those of you going via the Chunnel save at least 10 miles by going via Folkstone and you will be about 8 miles neared Boulogne on the French side. (Bowling down the much improved A2/M2 I was reading the signs and doing the 60MPH = 1 mile a minute calculation).
Those of you coming south across the Thames, remember M25/A2/M2/A229/M20 is an alternative to M25/M20 for the Chunnel and a couple of miles shorter. However the three lane all the way M20 is a faster road.
Even for Dover Eastern Docks the M25/M20 route should be faster in spite of being about 6 miles longer.

The 08:30 crossing was only 2/3rds full so there were, minimal checking in delays.
(Presumably P&O, unlike Eurotunnel, are "flexible" if one misses a booking in deadline?)

The South African "Kumala" bottles of "free" wine, I would value at less than 2 GBP per bottle but still a useful contribution towards the 19 GBP crossing. I did a mix and match and go t 2 white, 2 red and 2 rose.

P&O give out a leaflet warning about TRIANGLE, SPARE BULBS, HEAD-LIGHTS DIPPING (use brown parcel tape as anti dazzle) GB PLATE & HI VIZ JACKETS (get these in advance or pay P&O prices or take a chance). The French fine on the spot and remember the HI VIZ for all the family should be in the cabin, not the boot!

First stop after the Calais docks is Junction 3 zone industrial Marcel Doret on the East of the motorway
A.Total garage to use the new free air pump to put the high load pressures in the tyres. Supermarkets are cheaper for fuel.
B. Majestic Beer & Wine to check that there were no problems with the wedding order, when I would be collecting it on the way back.
C. Eastenders to get a small case of house wine as a joke for a friend - their brand is "D0G's B0LL0CKS".
D. Pidou, which was busy with UK coach trippers, to use the WC. Nobody seemed to be buying much and I was the only customer in Eastenders.

Back on the motorway, circle round with Calais on the right by turning right towards Boulogne, turn back towards Calais at junction 43 (those with old maps will have this marked as junction 14) as the motorway now shadows the old N1 to Paris.
At the second roundabout turn left onto the N1, there is a Shell garage on the NW corner.

After a few hundred yards there is a Lidl on the right and a Post Office on the left.
The PO hole in the wall was happy to deliver 150 Euro to my Nationwide debit card. If you want to buy alcohol at the cheapest possible price Lidl charges 9.36 Euro for 24 x 500 ml cans of German pils. Grabbed some beer and some groceries (plus bread and pate for a pic nic; with a view over some fields a bit further West near Fort Nieulay on the right).

Turn off to the left & right at a roundabout into Auchan (formally Mammoth) to fill up with diesel at 0.917 Euro per litre & follow by a trolly dash round the hypermarket. Only worth buying those things (fish soup, fancy cheese etc) that are not readily available in the UK plus the alcohol tax plays.
I notice that on the bill normal stuff seems to pay 5.5% "TAUX" and alcohol pays 19.6% but these surcharges seen to include HT & TVA which add up to TTC but that is still less than TAUX. Can anyone explain how the French sales tax works?

So it is back to Majestic for the big order paid for by a 4 figure cheque authorised by "Transax" as explained in this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=102484

So what are my conclusions:

1. If you want to go to NW France for the day and pick up some alcohol & tobacco on the way back it is a marginal benefit.

2. If you are going specifically to save duty you have to buy a lot to make it worthwhile. Majestic give 30 GBP off a 300 GBP advance order and 90 GBP off a 800 GBP advance order.

3. Watch out for currency conversion charges, especially the "Dynamic Currency Conversion" racket.

4. The glory days are over, first the totally duty free crossings are no more and now the GBP has been devalued by about one third.
No more the fond memories of 1993, when the Brits invaded Calais under the single market treaty and turned the drinks section of Mammoth into a teenage party:
Slithering in a mix of broken glass and slopped drink crunching underfoot with the beer section spilling out into a tent in the car park.

5. For a modest party, especially now that the nearly free crossings are finished for the season (?) it probably makes more sense to buy a round trip Dover to Dover (10 GBP ?) and shop at the now competitive on board prices.
P&O is missing a trick in not promoting this service more widely, I go caught out by buying some Pimm's on shore only to discover it was 2 GBP per bottle cheaper on the ferry. However I did manage to buy some "Spitfire" on the ferry.
.http://www.poferries.com/tourist/content/pages/template/offers_shopping_offers_beers,_wine_and_spirits_offers_-_beers,_wine_and_spirits.htm

pompeyrich

Thanks for taking the trouble to type that report Harry. Fond memories of the good old days when you could get real duty frees on the boats, £10 for 200 cigs. they used to mark your boarding card to stop you buying more than the 200, various scams to get round this, brake fluid to remove the marks etc. Seafrance didn't care and pretty much sold you what you wanted. If I didn't smoke I could have retired !!

Hope the £ recovers and it becomes viable again, used to enjoy the little jollys down to Belgium.

dacouch

Nice report Harry.

I hope the wedding goes well, it sounds like there could be a lot of birdy dance etc at the reception. I trust you will do us proud and do your "Dad Dancing"

We normally save time like you said by doing the chunnel but ventured onto the ferry last year. What I liked is in the Newsagents / Book Shop virtually every book was about the war or was a jerermy clarkson type book. I don't know whether its P&O being a bit tongue in cheek and giving the French and Germans a proper welcome to the UK or their is a big market for them on the ferry as us Brits get all patriotic on the ferry and want to read that type of book!

When you go on the ferry check it out, its quite amusing

harryhound

I seem to remember that "wargraves" or something close to that was a good discount code with a ferry company. It is sort of a definition for giving a pensioner price to UK only customers;)
Reminds me of waving a bit of newspaper in the cafeteria Q and saying "a free 5 portions breakfast for a "Star" reader". Not sure quite what that defined you as, but there was a distinct sound of choking from other customers as they paid for their 3 portions breakfast, even if all I had extra was tomatoes and mushrooms.

I got stuck in a Q on the Chunnel once behind an Indian (shop owner?). Like an airport, there is always a slight atmosphere of nervous tension in the waiting area.
He seemed to be buying the whole place and it was so obvious what he was doing as his cigarettes were in a selection of different brands.

Getting a bit back on thread, this posting shows the currency effect and how UK businesses are for the moment squeezing margins in an attempt to keep market share while their rivals go out of business:

Couple of Lidl spots that are worth sharing.

Red Wine: £2.99 South African Cab Sav-Shiraz (one with Springbok on front)
Knockout red, real full and fruity with just a bit of spice. Best bottle of red we've had in ages and we've been working our way through the well-known Aussie brands of late! Just gone back and bought a case.

Jalfrezi Curry Sauce: Made a really good curry with this. Added a bit of chili too which gave it a nice kick.

Murphy's is £2.60 for 4 cans too. Good sub for Guinness which is much pricier. I think I prefer Murphy's, it's a bit smoother.

The wine might be available in Calais for (say) £1.99 - not that Lidl would sell it.
The French are very conservative about buying other country's wines - Germany & Spain are just about acceptable, but full of flavour high strength new world/colonial wines seem to be considered as the work of the devil.
Methinks we will see a shake out in the warehouses in Calais.

Tarry

dacouch wrote: »

Nice report Harry.

. What I liked is in the Newsagents / Book Shop virtually every book was about the war or was a jerermy clarkson type book. I don't know whether its P&O being a bit tongue in cheek and giving the French and Germans a proper welcome to the UK or their is a big market for them on the ferry as us Brits get all patriotic on the ferry and want to read that type of book!

When you go on the ferry check it out, its quite amusing

Now you say that, I do remember seeing a lot of War books last year on the ferry :rotfl: And Jeremy Clarkson :rotfl:

dacouch

It made me and my mates laugh

harryhound

http://ademdjemil.co.uk/blog/?p=1333

Tarry

It seems like everyone seems to be starting to sail there!